Daily Grind, new Website

I have artwork currently on display through the month of August at The Daily Grind in Troy, NY. Definitely check it out if you're over that way.

Also, I have launched my new website: www.nicolettecallaway.com. Woohoo! Take a look! 

Happenings

This past holiday time I ventured to Nantucket for my first encounter with this island... A beautiful place it is, magical and filled with delicious-smelling flowers and salty sea air. During my stay, I was pleased to have another summer moth encounter. This moth did not fly at my head, and was slightly smaller and more traditionally brown-colored, though not to mistake the brilliant orange when it opened its wings. Remark how you will upon that... And it has been quite a while since I have traveled on a boat, on the ocean, and never that I can recall with white-crested waves rippling on top of blue. Always it had been dirty brown. Without further detail, I experienced much for art inspiration. 

Tonight, I return to Albany, for 1st Friday art openings, and I hope you come out. I will still have work at Mingle, but I will also have artwork at The Cheese Traveler, and in the "Midsummer Night's Dream" show at Upstate Artists Guild. I'm excited for the shows.

Tomorrow morning I'll be back in Delmar, selling cards, prints and stickers at the Delmar Farmers Market, and I hope you'll join me in the sun.

Monday I turn 30.

Troy Night Out, Delmar

It's that time again! Troy Night out tomorrow night-- my piece, "Keeper of Secrets," depicting a lynx, will be exhibited in the Fence Select show at the Arts Center. 

Then on Saturday, from 9am to 1pm, I'll be at the Delmar Farmers Market at Bethlehem Central Middle School, selling prints, cards, stickers, and original collages. 

As a reminder, you can purchase my prints and cards online at Etsy.com, or at The Cheese Traveler in Albany or T and J Soaps in Troy. Or just email me.

Upcoming: First Friday in Albany (7/5), I'll have collages exhibited at The Cheese Traveler, at Mingle restaurant, and at the Upstate Artists Guild gallery on Lark Street, in their "Midsummer Night's Dream" show. Don't miss it!

Troy River Fest

It's tomorrow! Saturday, June 15th, 10-5. Come check it out! Art, crafts, food, music, and other fun!

New Illustrations

I'm focusing time this year on moving into the children's book market.  One step I've taken is to create collage pieces that clearly move through a known story: Aesop's "The Crow and the Pitcher."  I've added a snipe to the story in a reenvisioning of the classic fable, and for an element of competition.  In keeping with my M.O., each piece contains the four natural elements in some form, and the birds are totem animals.  I'd be interested to hear your thoughts and comments, if you'd like to post them.

Overcoming Obstacles I - © 2013 Nicolette Callaway
5"x5" cut paper on canvas

 

 

 

Overcoming Obstacles II - © 2013 Nicolette Callaway
5"x5" cut paper on canvas

Overcoming Obstacles III - © 2013 Nicolette Callaway
5"x5" cut paper on canvas

Art on Lark

Don't forget Art on Lark this Saturday! There will be tons of art, music, and food vendors. I'll be there selling prints, cards and stickers! Come on out!

Also, remember 1st Friday this Friday. I've got new work up at Mingle (540 Delaware Ave) for the month. Yes, it is my work, not artwork by Nicolette Sheridan, as the 1st Friday printed maps incorrectly indicate. 

Look forward to seeing you there!

Troy Night Out, Delmar

Don't miss Troy Night Out tomorrow night! I've got three pieces in the Fence Show at The Arts Center, so you should come check it out.

Also, the Delmar Farmers Market starts up for the season this Saturday, June 1, from 9a-1pm. Come get all your shopping done for next week! 

Hope to see you there!

The Path

My most recent piece, The Path, is a triptych, spanning three 8"x10" canvasses.  It is on display for just a few more days at Stage 1 of the Albany Barn, and I recommend checking it out in person if you can.

The Path I began while I was recently in Austin, TX.  Vultures and hawks are commonplace on roads and in the air, about as common as falcons and hawks are in the northeast.  The interesting thing about vultures is that they are about purification, of moving through one part of the life cycle (death) into the next (birth; sustainability).  The deer is about innocence, of politeness, beauty, grace.  Hawk is a messenger, a protector of the air, and is associated with temperance.  The gryphon, while a mythological creature, is a guardian, a conduit, on the path toward spiritual enlightenment.  As the viewer moves his or her eyes from left to right across these three canvasses, he/she can read this path.  It is not a death of innocence, but a movement out of -- the innocence sustains the vultures, which purify and move it forward into something else, something weightier, from land, through fire and water, and into air.  The hawks watch over and protect during this transition, and the gryphon is present at the end to urge and guide, representing ultimate spiritual enlightenment, a self-awakening.

I welcome any and all thoughts on what you as a viewer may have read from this piece.  Artist intention is only one part of the artistic process.

"Seeing Green: Environmentally Conscious Art" - New Exhibit

May's 1st Friday is a big one.

Just last evening I hung a show at the Stage 1 Gallery of the Albany Barn (46-48 N. Swan St., Albany).  "Seeing Green: Environmentally Conscious Art" will feature seven pieces of mine, as well as works by four other artists.  As you may know, all of my artwork is created from very small pieces of paper cut from celebrity gossip and fashion magazines, transforming the magazines into collages focused on the four natural elements and totem animals, that make a larger statement about how we live in our natural world and how we connect with each other.  My art is dually environmentally conscious.

Three of my new pieces are on display; one is a triptych I created when I was away in Austin, TX for three weeks.  The piece is called "The Path" and features five vultures, two hawks and a gryphon.  Really, it's about purification, a movement away from a stage of innocence, through a self-awakening and on toward spiritual enlightenment.  (A picture is below, but unfortunately it came out a bit blurry, so you'll really just have to get on out to the show.)

As I said in my last post, about fifteen of my pieces are currently on display at Mingle (540 Delaware Ave., Albany).  Though I do not have new pieces there, likely there are pieces you have not seen, so I recommend getting out there, having drinks/dinner, and checking out some artwork.  Support local business and local artists at the same time!

"The Path"
8"x10" (triptych)
cut paper
© Nicolette Callaway 2013

Show at Mingle

Many of my collages are currently on display at Mingle, a fantastic restaurant at 540 Delaware Ave in Albany, and will be up throughout the month of May. Definitely go have dinner or a drink there and check it out!

To Know Bounds

Though I have not posted for a while, I have not been absent from art.  As many changes have taken place for me in the new year, so too have things been taking shape with collaging.

Below is the piece I completed in February.  The moth is a totem you may remember from one of my posts on reading signs and spirit guides a few months back.  As you may recall, the moth is about relationships, about following your senses, observation and intuition to know whether a relationship, of any type, with a particular person, is right for you.  The rabbit I recently came to discover is one of my totem animals.  I had wondered over the last few years, in creating pieces with totem animals, when I would discover which animals represent me.  Though I know I do not yet have all of them, the rabbit is indeed one.  Rabbit is about boundaries.  It is about knowing which boundaries are appropriate to keep and maintain strong, and which ones to leap beyond, to risk venturing outside of them in order to grow and change.

When these two totems come together, they suggest that we must all be aware of what boundaries are necessary for particular relationships to thrive.  How far to push?  How far to be pushed?  Where do you begin and I end?  We do not have to sacrifice our boundaries to achieve closeness.  We get to protect ourselves and hold ourselves sacred, and still be loved.

To Know Bounds
cut paper on canvas panel, 8"x10"
© 2013 Nicolette Callaway

Lynx

Amazing what one can get done when focused.  My most recent piece, below, depicts a lynx.

Lynx guards secrets.  Those with lynx power can see others' fears, lies, and self-deceptions.  Practice strength through silence.  Keep confidences.  Choose words carefully.

© 2013 Nicolette Callaway

"Keeper of Secrets"

magazine paper with acrylic glaze

Craft fairs

It looks as though until the summer I will be presenting my wares once a month at the Albany JCC monthly craft fair. Today it's 11-3, and you should definitely come check it out.

Additionally, please note that I have cards, prints, originals, and tote bags at The Cheese Traveler shop on Delaware Ave. in Albany, and cards at T&J Soaps on River St. in Troy. You may go buy them anytime the shops are open!

In Art We Trust - Show

Come check out First Friday tonight in Albany! My piece "Falcon Says To Crows" is in the show at Upstate Artists Guild, "In Art We Trust," throughout the month.